George Foreman's 5 greatest knockouts, ranked: Frazier, Lyle and other signature wins for 'Big George'

The sporting world united to pay tribute to the great George Foreman in 2025.

Former two-time world heavyweight champion and 1968 Olympic gold medalist Foreman died on March 21, aged 76.

‘Big George’ was a much-loved figure for several reasons, from his incredible redemption following the epic 1974 defeat to Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle, to becoming the face of the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine.

But Foreman’s irresistible calling card — both during his initial Adonis-like reign and when he returned to boxing in more comfortably proportioned middle-age — was his ferocious, bone-shuddering power.

Few men in history have punched with such devastating and destructive force. To celebrate the life of a boxing icon, we’ve ranked Foreman’s five greatest knockout victories.

MORE: From the TSN Archives: ‘George Foreman, Hallelujah!’

5. Gerry Cooney (TKO 2/10), January 15, 1990

Foreman was 19-0 with 19 KOs in the period since his 1987 comeback by the time he shared the ring with popular former world-title challenger Cooney, who had himself been inactive for two and a half years. Foreman had a win over the esteemed former light-heavyweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi during this period, where the size difference proved too much for the smaller man.

The jury was still out on whether Foreman would be able to mix it with the top heavyweights again. His emphatic stoppage of Cooney made his most convincing case to date. Cooney scored well with his long left jab during the opener and wobbled Foreman with a short left hook. However, ‘Big George’ started to back his man up in the second. A thunderous left uppercut left Cooney disorganised and Foreman did not waste a shot in the follow-up assault. Referee Joe Cortez allowed the bedraggled New Yorker to continue and all Foreman needed was a single left hook to the chin, which rendered Cooney unconscious.

This fight was a big part of the reason so many feared for Ali’s safety when he headed to Zaire to challenge Foreman for the title. Norton had given ‘The Greatest’ fits over the 24 rounds they shared together. He boxed astutely during the opening couple of minutes against Foreman before being taken apart.

The champion found his range with a ramrod jab before a brutal right to the kidneys left Norton exposed for an uppercut to the chin. They exchanged during the final minute of the first round but Foreman’s punches were visibly having a greater effect. In round two, a monster right staggered Norton, who was then twice held up by the ropes as Foreman sensed an early finish. Vicious right and left hooks were strung together in a blitzkrieg combination to close the show.

MORE: How George Foreman took apart Muhammad Ali’s bogeyman Ken Norton

3. Ron Lyle (KO 5/12), January 24, 1976)

“The most brutal heavyweight fight ever. It was so violent that the first time I saw it on YouTube, it almost scared me off becoming a boxer.” That was Anthony Joshua’s verdict on Foreman’s slugfest for the ages with the similarly hammer-fisted Lyle.

Foreman spent more than a year out of the ring after his sapping loss to Ali. Instead of dipping his toe back in with a gentle, confidence-building outing, he engaged in this hellacious affair at Caesars Palace. A right to the side of the head, a left hook and a right to the jaw from Lyle in the fourth had Foreman down, the ghosts of Kinshasa swirling.

Teetering on the brink, Foreman stopped Lyle in his tracks as they exchanged left hooks and drilled him to the canvas with a right. There was still a minute left in Ring Magazine’s Round of the Year for 1976, during which time a head-hunting Foreman virtually punched himself out and was left face-first on the canvas at the bell courtesy of a Lyle right hook.

Astoundingly, the plot shifted again in the concluding fifth. Lyle had Foreman all over the place with a left to the point of the chin. “Here we go, Howard,” proclaimed Norton on co-commentary with Howard Cosell. “Foreman’s in bad trouble now.” He was, as Lyle rattled him with more huge shots. But, seemingly on the cusp of victory, Lyle had his equilibrium severed as Foreman dredged up combinations from the depths. Ron sagged by the red corner under the barrage and eventually tumbled, almost motionless, to defeat.

“I re-ran it over and over and the more I did, the more it excited me. I saw myself there. I started thinking, ‘Man, I’m going to enjoy this’,” Joshua added ahead of his maiden world title win against Charles Martin in 2016, boxing’s seductive brutality remaining undefeated.

“DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER!”

There have been bigger upsets in world heavyweight title fights but none so shocking as Foreman’s evisceration of his fellow great Frazier, as soundtracked by Cosell’s famous commentary. ‘Smokin’ Joe’ had become the face of the sport after his legacy-sealing victory over Ali in their 1971 ‘Fight of the Century’. Frazier made short work of Terry Daniels and Ron Stander in his first two defences and Foreman entered the ring as a 4/1 underdog in Jamaica.

He made a mockery of that status as he obliterated Frazier, decking him three times in round one and three more in the third before a halt was mercifully called. One right uppercut famously lifted the champion clean off his feet. Six times Frazier was knocked to the canvas and six times he got up. Not for the last time in his career, the Philadelphia hero was too brave for his own good, but there was a new heavyweight king in town.

MORE: George Foreman’s incredible first victory over Joe Frazier in his own words

1. Michael Moorer (KO 10/12), November 5, 1994)

Foreman’s cheery good nature, in contrast to the dark-eyed wrecking machine of his youth, meant there was always a sense of novelty to his boxing return. Victories such as those over Qawi and Cooney served notice that he was serious in his ambitions to return to the top. Foreman’s knockout run yielded unsuccessful title tilts against Evander Holyfield and Tommy Morrison, losing both on points.

Seventeen months on from the Morrison defeat, he was fortunate to be granted a shot at IBF champion Moorer. For the majority of the contest, it looked as if the undefeated 26-year-old southpaw would make it three unsuccessful challenges out of three for ‘Big George’ in his second act. But Moorer foolishly stayed in range as Foreman began to put shots together from round seven onwards. In the 10th, it happened.

There was a beautiful economy to how Foreman snapped the right off the jab. That was how he decided it was going to finish. In fairly quick succession, Moorer blocked one attempt and ducked under a sweeping right hand. He remained right on the end of George’s punches as the challenger shortened them up, steadying Moorer with a right to the forehead before the perfect one-two to the jaw to finish the job. Moorer tumbled, flat on his back, dazed and embarrassed and the victim of one of the greatest stories in sports history.